Bottle closure



Aug. 20, 1929. A. LOWY BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed Sept. 21, 1927 INVENTOR 01M34 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 20, 1929.

UNITED STATES ALEXANDER LOWY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

BOTTLE CLOSURE.

Application filed September 21, 1927.

This invention relates to a bottle closure, particularly for containersof liqulds charged with effervescent gases or capable of generating agaseous ingredient resulting from fermentation. The inventioncontemplates the provision of a closure member capable of withstandingthe gas pressures 1n highly charged beverages or particularly thosewhich generate a high gaseous content,

resulting from fermentation. In the production of malted beverages, suchas beer, high internal presssure may be accumulated due to the continuedfermentation of the components. This pressure sets up a tremendous forcewhich, with the ordinary type of closure, will cause the shattering ofthe glass container or bottle, sometimes accompanied with such explosiveforce as to be hazardous and likely to cause injury to anyone in theimmediate vicinity thereof. Glass bottles used to store theseeffervescent beverages will, on some occasions, withstand theaccumulated pressure of the internal gases but have been found, uponslight jarring, to burst and shatter the glass vessel, causing painfulinjury to the attendant.

My invention, therefore, has for an object thereof the provision of aclosure for containers such as bottles made of glass so constructed andarranged as to include a safety device whereby effervescent or chargedbeverages or beverages which are in the process of fermentation andbecome heavily charged with gases may be relieved of the accumulatedpressure when this is stored in excess of the factor of safety of thedesigned pressure of the vessel. My invention contemplates the provisionof a closure for containers adapted to hold liquids under pressure orthose generating gaseous ingredients to produce high internal pressures,the closure being capable of forming a seal for retaining the li uid andits contents under normal pressures ut capable of releasing a quantityof the gas when the internal pressure is greater than the safety factorof the glass vessel; the provision of a closure for retaining liquidsunder pressure, the closure including a readily rupturable element whichwill serve to release the gases within the vessel when the pressurewithin the vessel has reached a point in excess of the safety factor ofthe readily shatterable vessel.

In its more particular form, my invention contemplates the provision ofa closure for Serial No. 221,126.

bottles adapted to retain liquids under pressure, the closure includinga safety release orifice normally held closed by readily rupturablematerial, such as tin foil or the like, the tin foil being so chosen asto its property to resist rupture so that a pressure per unit areathereof will be less than the factor of safety of a glass vessel wherebythe pressure within the vessel will be reduced and a portion of thecontents of the vessel will be emitted through the ruptured materialbefore any tendency on the part of the glass vessel to burst and shatterthe glass or cause loss of the fluid contents thereof.

To attain these objects and such further objects as may appear herein orbe hereinafter pointed out, I make reference to the accompanying drawingforming a. part here of, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation insection of a fragment of a bottle disclosed in my invention;

Figure 2 is a detail of a closure in one em bodiment thereof, showing asection thereof;

Figure 3 is an end elevation partly in section, of the closure plugshown in Figure Figure 4 is a plan view of the top of a. cap showing amodification of my invention;

Figure 5 is a section on a line 55 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a plan view of a still further modification Figure 7 is asection taken on a line 7-7 of Figure 6.

Making reference to the drawing, I illustrate the same in connectionwith a bottle 10 whose neck 11 is provided with a closure plug 12, heldin position by a wire strap 13, passing through a transverse orifice 14whose terminals 15, are pivotally mounted within the cars 16 of theinverted U-shaped lever member 17. The terminals 18 of the member 17 arearranged to pivotally engage a permanent collar of conventional form,providing the fulcrum for the U-shaped lever arm 17 This mechanism forretaining the closure 12 in position is of conventional form. The plug12 which is customarily made of porcelain or glass has an enlarged head19 and a restricted nose portion 20 below the transverse orifice 14.Intermediate the end of the nose portion there is provided a restrictedflange 21, adapted to hold a resilient washer 22, made of rubber or thelike.

From the nose portion and connecting with the orifice 1a, there isprovided a longitudinal orifice 23. In its position over the neck of thebottle 11, the longitudinal orifice 23 connecting with the transverseorifice 14c will provide ready access to the atmosphere from within thebottle. For purposes of storage of highly charged or effervescentbeverages or beverages which may become charged with gas due tofermentation and to retain the normal, desired pressure of this beveragewithin the vessel, prior to the positioning over the flange 21 of theresilient washer 22, the nose 20 has placed thereover a readilyrupturable sheeted material, such as tin foil, celluloid or the like,shown at 2 1 and is held in position beneath the washer 22, pro 'iouslydescribed. lVith the orifice 23 closed by the sheet of tin foil as shownin Figure 2, the plug 12 is positioned over the neck of the bottle inthe normal way after the container has had deposited therein its fluidcontents of charged beverage or a liquid which is likely to ferment andbecomes charged with a gaseous material. The sheeted material 2 1 andthe size of the orifice which the sheeted material closes are so chosenas to withstand rupture by certain predetermined pressures. Thispressure is chosen so as to be greater than that desired to be retainedwithin the fluid but less than the factor of safety of the glass vessel,which, however, it will be understood, may be made of any othermaterial.

It will be observed that by my construction, undue increase in pressurewithin the vessel due to exposure to heat of a bottle of the liquid ormaterial charged with gas or where a fermentable liquid is stored due toan overproduction of gaseous material, the sheeted material 2 1 willyield and be ruptured by the excess pressure within the bottle, allowingthe escape of some of the gases through the longitudinal orifice 23 andoutwardly through the transverse orifice 14. It will be observed thatthe orifice 23 is of such dimensions as to prevent any undue loss of theliquid contents of the container but such release of pressure will serveto prevent the breakage of the vessel and the harmful shattering ofbroken pieces of glass.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 5, the bottle 10 has its neck11 provided with a closure 12 of the crown seal type wherein thedependent flange 13 is crimped over the bead 1 1 of the bottle by aplurality of depressions shown at 15. The head of the seal, however,differs in this respect that an orifice 16 is provided. l Vithin thecrown seal in superposed position there is provided first av sheet ofreadily rupturable material 24, held in position by an adhesive andyieldable gasket material such as composition cork or the like, 25. Thisgasket 25 is also provided with an orifice 26 underlying the orifice 16In the position as shown, the layer of readily rupturable material 2 1serves to close the neck of the bottle in the manner as described inconnection with the construction shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. Similarly,the orifice provided by 1'6 and 26 is so chosen in respect to the sizeof the opening of the bottle and the character of the readily rupturablematerial an as to retain pressures within the vessel in accordance withthe previously described modification but capable of being ruptured whenconditions within the bottle will tend to burst the bottle if a solidhead or closure were provided.

in the embodiment shown in Figures 6 and 7, the crown seal or cap 17 hasits top portion 28 provided with a concentric bead 19, oil'set upwardlyfrom the flattened head 28 so as to provide an orifice 30 at theinwardly directed flange 31, the edges of which are provided withpiercing points 32. These piercing points 32 are in alignment with theflattened portion of the head 28. Within the cap I position insuperposed relation a disk of readily rupturable material such as tinfoil 33, and adhesively hold the same in position with a ring 34, madeof composition cork, rubber or the like. The disk of readily rupturablematerial, such as tin foil 33, as it will be observed, is supported atits rim within the cap by the fiattened portion 28 and is unsupportedimmediatel' below the ca underneath the hollow I portion formed at thehead 29 and just in contact with the mouth of the inwardly directedflange 31 so as to be barely supported by the piercing points 32 thereonprovided. A cap of this character may be used to seal the neck of a.bottle in the manner as described in connection with the modificationshown in Figures at and 5 wherein the side walls of the crown seal arecrimped in position in a manner well known, the gasket 34 restin uponthe neck of the'bottle to give a gas tight seal. In this modification,the layer of tin foil immediately beneath the flattened portion 28 willbe substantially unsupported. Any undue increase in pressure beyond thatcalculated to be retained within the vessel with safety will cause thetin foil to be bulged to such an extent whereby the piercing points 32will serve to facilitate rupturing of the tin foil or similar material,where this is provided.

In this form of construction, particularly, 1 may substitute for the tinfoil or thin sheets of celluloid, materials having greater tensilestrength but capable of being easily pierced and it will be observedthat the pronged neck 31 functions in a manner similar to the mouth ofthe nose 20 about the orifice 23 in the embodiment shown in Figures 1, 2and 3, wherein the reduced portion of the nose 20 assists materially inrending and puncturing the covering material of tin foil or the like.

It will thus be observed that I have provided a closure for vesselsadapted to retain materials under pressure and include a safety factorto avoid hazardous handling in storage of such material.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A sealing device for bottles containing liquids under pressurecomprising a closure head having a portion thereof adapted tocommunicate with the atmosphere disposed with an entrance to theinterior of said bottle, a readily rupturable material for closing saidportion at the interior portion mentioned, said portion and saidmaterial being so formed as to withstand pressures less than thepressures which may be accu mulated within the bottle whereby pressuresin excess of the safety factor of said bottle will be avoided.

2. A sealing device for bottles containing liquids under pressurecomprising a closure head including a gas release orifice disposed withan entrance to the interior of said bottle adapted to relieve thepressure within the container without substantial loss of the fluidcontents thereof, a readily rupturable material disposed to close saidorifice at the interior portion mentioned, said material being capableof withstanding normal pressures within the bottle but rendible atpressure which will burst the bottle.

3. A sealing device for bottles containing liquids under pressurecomprising a closure head, an orifice formed therethrough adapted toconnect with the atmosphere when said closure member is disposed uponthe neck of said bottle with an entrance portion disposed towards theinterior of said bottle, means to close said orifice at the interiorportion thereof comprising-a readily rupturable material, a gasketdisposed on said head to'hold said material in position and serving toform a gas tight seal with the neck of said bottle.

4. A sealing device for bottles comprising a closure plug, means on saidplug to engage a bottle neck and hold the same against displacementthereupon including a strap member and a pressure lever mounted on saidplug, a by-pass orifice through said plug for connecting the bottle tothe atmosphere connected with said strap member holding portion andhaving an entrance interior of said bottle, said plug being formed as tohold a resilient gasket thereover and position areadily rupturablematerial for sealing said orifice and interior entrance portion.

5. A sealing device for bottles comprising a closure plug, means on saidplug to en gage the bottle neck and hold the same against displacementthereupon, including an embracing portion for the bottle neck andresilient means for holding the same thereon, an orifice through saidplug for connecting the bottle to the atmosphere having an entranceinterior of said bottle, said plug being so formed as to hold aresilient gasket and position a readily rupturable material for sealingsaid orifice and entrance of said orifice within said bottle.

6. A sealing device for bottles comprising a closure, means on saidclosure to engage the bottle neck and hold the same against displacementthereupon, an orifice through said closure for connecting the bottle tothe atmosphere and having an entrance portion interior of said bottle,said closure being so formed as to hold a resilient gasket and positiona readily rupturable material for sealing said orifice at the entranceportion, the orifice being of a size which when used with the rupturablematerial will support a bottle pressure less than that which will breakand shatter the bottle.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 17th day ofSeptember, 1927.

ALEXANDER LOWY.

